Quarter-finals set

SUI-CZE, CAN-SWE in Stockholm, FIN-SVK, RUS-USA in Helsinki

Canada and Sweden will battle it out in the quarter-finals in Stockholm. Photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images

STOCKHOLM/HELSINKI – The quarter-finals of the 77th IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship are set, and fans are in for a treat on Thursday.

Finland reached first place thanks to its overtime win over Latvia and will play Slovakia after a one-day break on Thursday at 18:30 at Hartwall Arena. Russia and Team USA will battle it out in a classic match-up in the early quarter-final on 13:00.

On the Stockholm side, the 14:45 game will feature the unbeaten Swiss taking on the surging Czechs, while the 20:15 game will feature a classic battle, between Canada and host Sweden.

After these four games, the winners in Helsinki will use Friday, the off day, to travel to Stockholm, where the semi-finals (Saturday) and medal games (Sunday) will be played over the weekend in a cross-over format.

The top Helsinki team will play the second-seeded Stockholm team, and the top Stockholm team will take on Helsinki’s number-two team. Winners advance to the gold-medal game (20:30) and losers head to the bronze-medal game earlier in the day (16:00).